The Pros of Traveling

This morning has been a rough morning. It is sunny, I got lots of sleep, my eggs and toast were delicious... but it has been a rough morning. One of the truly greatest things about traveling and hosteling is getting to meet so many people who have traveled the world and experienced ridiculous things. Why was my morning so tough? Because once again I have heard people saying that America has it all wrong. It seems to be something that just keeps coming up in conversations I am having, books I am reading, etc. And I am absolutely beginning to see truth in everything I am coming into contact with.
A woman this morning was born in Africa, highly educated in Britain in economics, and has been traveling the world for years (all over too). She was talking about China this morning with a man from Canton and it was eye-opening to hear all she had to say. It is amazing how much propaganda still exists in the world. Something she said that hit me pretty hard, because I do love where I am from but I am more and more conscious of how greedy and selfish America is, is she said that the worst thing she has ever heard is when America says it wants people to have the opportunity of the "American way of life." She said this for many reasons... the American way of life is more more more. Hello mortgage crisis. Hello failing economy. Hello wars that are started to keep the price of oil down in our own country while we obliterate the people and the lives of another country. (A comment she made that I intend to research... when a recession is on the rise, we go to war - something all economists are taught and shown throughout history).
I have read and seen how lots of Civil Rights history has been swept under the rug. Now I am becoming more aware of how ignorant a population we really are in America. Kids who are 18 here in Europe leave home and travel the world... most kids who are 18 in America are wondering what kind of car they are getting for graduation. Could anyone tell me the history of Taiwan and what is actually happening in China (that their economic system is actually working and has already beaten out the American way of living - and that terrifies our country...)? I know I could not. But I am making it priority to get out of the news and the terror-spreading comments that are on repeat in America. These are people. These are their lives. Our government might have wanted to scare the crap out of us with China because they know that we cannot compete with them. Is that really a reason to spread hate and deceive a people? Isn't this our world to share? Let's try doing that in the future.